- Moderna Receives $590 Million From US HHS To Develop Bird Flu Vaccine
Source: US News & World Report
“The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is awarding the pharmaceutical company Moderna $590 million to continue developing a vaccine to protect against bird flu. This funding, announced Friday by Moderna, builds on the $176 million it received from HHS last year to support earlier stages of vaccine research. Moderna’s vaccine is designed to target H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses. The company plans to move into phase 3 clinical trials to test the vaccine in a larger group of people after receiving positive results in earlier phases. It said those findings will be shared at an upcoming scientific conference.” (01/21/25)
- US exit from WHO could see one-fifth of its budget disappear
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). ‘Oooh, that’s a big one,’ the newly inaugurated US president said as he approved the document after arriving back at the White House. It was one of dozens of executive actions he put his signature to on day one in office. This marks the second time Trump has ordered the US be pulled out of the WHO. Trump was critical of how the international body handled Covid-19 and began the process of pulling out from the Geneva-based institution during the pandemic. President Joe Biden later reversed that decision. Carrying out this executive action on day one makes it more likely the US will formally leave the global agency. ” (01/21/25)
- Mali: Rebel alliance says it has freed a Spanish man who was kidnapped in Algeria
Source: ABC News
“A rebel alliance in Mali said Tuesday it has freed a Spanish man who was kidnapped in southern Algeria last week. The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a coalition of separatist armed groups in Mali’s predominately Tuareg north, said on the social media platform X that it freed Spanish citizen Gilbert Navarro. ‘The former Spanish hostage, Mr. Navarro Giane Gilbert, has been released by the FLA and is in good health,’ said Mohamed Maouloud Ramaadan, spokesperson for the separatist movement.” (01/21/25)
- Garth Hudson, 1937-2025
Source: Variety
“Garth Hudson, whose fantastical approach to the organ and virtuosity on a panoply of other instruments lent a distinctive touch to the roots-rock of the Canadian-American group the Band, has died, according to the Toronto Star. Hudson ‘passed away peacefully in his sleep’ Tuesday morning at a nursing home in the Band’s longtime home base of Woodstock, New York, the musician’s estate executor confirmed to the publication. He was 87.” (01/21/25)
https://variety.com/2025/music/news/garth-hudson-last-member-the-band-dead-1236280162/
- GA: More than 200 potential jurors summoned for trial of prosecutor in Ahmaud Arbery’s murder
Source: SFGate
“More than 200 potential jurors were summoned Tuesday to a Georgia courthouse to face questions about whether they can serve impartially in the trial of a former prosecutor accused of meddling with police as they investigated the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Jackie Johnson served as district attorney when Arbery, a 25-year-old [b]lack man, was chased by three white men in pickup trucks and fatally shot on a residential street. Johnson’s misconduct trial will be held in the same courthouse where Arbery’s assailants were convicted of murder in 2021. The threat of winter weather is causing delays. Senior Judge John R. Turner said he plans to adjourn early Tuesday ahead of forecast snow showers.” (01/21/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/more-than-200-potential-jurors-summoned-for-trial-20046641.php
- Former federal workfare clients lobby against DC-area casino
Source: Washington Post
“Forget what you’ve seen in every James Bond movie: Spies and casinos don’t mix. At least they shouldn’t mix, according to real-life spooks fighting a proposed Fairfax County casino as a national security threat. Home to CIA headquarters, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and countless supersecret defense and intelligence contractors, the D.C. suburb probably boasts more security clearances than anywhere else in America, says a group of ex-spies, who warn in a letter to state and local officials that building a casino in Tysons could lead those secret-keepers astray. … State Senate Majority Leader Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax), whose bill to allow the county to consider a casino advanced out of a Senate subcommittee Monday and will go before the General Laws and Technology Committee on Wednesday, dismisses that argument as ‘NIMBYism dressed up like spy warfare.'” (01/21/25)
- Peru: Journalist who reported on extortion shot dead, prosecutor’s office bombed
Source: CBS News
“A journalist who reported on Peru’s extortion epidemic was shot dead on Monday and two people were injured in a separate bomb attack on a prosecutor’s office that also investigates racketeering, authorities said. Gaston Medina, the owner and editor of a regional TV channel, was gunned down as he was leaving his house in the south-central city of Ica, the country’s National Association of Journalists (ANP) said in a statement. … In a separate attack Monday in the northwestern city of Trujillo, the epicenter of the extortion epidemic, two people were injured when a bomb exploded outside the prosecutor’s office.” (01/21/25)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peru-journalist-gaston-medina-killed-prosecutors-office-bombed/
- Turkey: At least 66 dead & 51 injured in a hotel fire at a ski resort
Source: SFGate
“A fire raged through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey early Tuesday during a school holiday, killing at least 66 people — at least two of them when they jumped from the building to escape the flames, officials said. At least 51 people also were injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Istanbul, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The fire occurred near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed. ‘We are in deep pain. We have unfortunately lost 66 lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel,’ Yerlikaya told reporters after inspecting the site.” (01/21/25)
- South Korea: Yoon Defends Martial Law Decree in First Public Appearance Since Arrest
Source: US News & World Report
“South Korea’s impeached president denied Tuesday that he ordered the military to drag lawmakers out of the National Assembly to prevent them from voting to reject his martial law decree last month, as he appeared for the first time before the Constitutional Court that will determine his fate. … After abruptly imposing martial law on Dec. 3, Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but enough lawmakers managed to enter to vote unanimously to reject his decree, forcing Yoon’s Cabinet to lift the measure early the following morning. Yoon, a conservative, has since argued that his dispatch of troops was not meant to block the assembly but instead was a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which has used its legislature majority to obstruct Yoon’s agenda, undermine his budget bill and impeach some of his top officials.” (01/21/25)
- Australia: Mystery balls on Sydney beaches found to contain fecal bacteria
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“The mysterious balls that forced the closure of several beaches in Sydney last week were found to contain saturated fatty acids, E. coli and faecal bacteria, authorities say. Sydney’s Northern Beaches council said it has sent the debris to the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) for further analysis. Nine beaches, including popular spots Manly and Dee Why, were closed on 14 January after the marble-sized balls started washing up. It came months after thousands of black blobs started appearing on the city’s coasts in October, prompting authorities to close some of its most famous beaches for several days and order a massive clean-up.” (01/21/25)
- The Constitution Won’t Save Us From Trump
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“Depending on the Constitution to protect us from the US government in general, or from the president in particular, is a fool’s game. It’s like waving the title to your Audi in a car-jacker’s face, believing he’ll put his pistol away and leave you alone once he sees it.” (01/21/25)
- Trump Must Choose: Tariffs or Lower Prices
Source: Reason
by Jack NiCastro“Domestic deregulation will decrease the cost of living. Trade barriers will do the opposite.” (01/21/25)
https://reason.com/2025/01/21/trump-must-choose-tariffs-or-lower-prices/
- New Study Shows Why “Taxing the Rich” Isn’t So Straightforward
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Peter Jacobsen“A common rallying cry on the left is that we can fund our social programs if we just ‘tax the rich.’ While popular, this slogan is far from a real solution for the country. As has been pointed out elsewhere, if you confiscated all the wealth of every billionaire in the US, you wouldn’t even have enough money to run the government for a year. Our fiscal problem is a spending issue, not a revenue issue. However, this isn’t the only problem with the proposal. It turns out that ‘tax the rich’ is easier said than done.” (01/21/25)
https://fee.org/articles/new-study-shows-why-taxing-the-rich-isnt-so-straightforward/
- Opposing the Keynesian Illusion: Spending Does Not Drive the Economy
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Jonathan Newman“Keynes held that the economy can suffer extended periods of high unemployment because of deficient aggregate spending. A contraction in spending results in businesses having excess inventories and reduced revenues. Businesses respond by cutting back and decreasing their demand for labor. Due to ‘sticky wages,’ this results in a large decrease in employment and incomes for workers. The problem comes full circle and self-aggravating because workers as a whole must restrict their spending due to their reduced incomes. For Keynes, the solution is found in the government, which can increase the money supply and engage in deficit spending. Monetary and fiscal policies are aimed at stimulating (indirectly) and replacing (directly) aggregate spending, respectively.” (01/21/25)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/opposing-keynesian-illusion-spending-does-not-drive-economy
- Welcome to Trump’s Dystopian Border Fantasyland
Source: The Bulwark
by Adrian Carrasquillo“Donald Trump’s second inaugural address, and the subsequent executive orders on immigration he issued Monday, paint a picture of the border that is detached from reality. The newly sworn-in president cast the nation’s outgoing leadership as having failed to defend American citizens when it provided sanctuary for (what he deemed) dangerous criminals, many of whom arrived from ‘mental institutions’ across the border. Trump then declared a national emergency, allowing the secretary of defense to send military forces to the southern border, which his aides said was necessary to protect the sovereignty of the United States. But Trump wasn’t done there.” (01/21/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/welcome-to-trumps-dystopian-border
- Inauguration Day’s range of emotions
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by Linda Feldmann“Inauguration Day, every four years, is like no other in the U.S. capital. Even in the winter chill, the crowds on the National Mall can number in the hundreds of thousands – or more. Anticipation is in the air. People from all over have come to witness the launch of a new presidential term, promptly at noon on Jan. 20. I’ve seen my share of inaugurations over the years, sometimes from the viewing stands right below the Capitol Building, sometimes from the fringes of the Mall, sometimes on TV. It’s always exciting, especially when a new party takes over and a hallmark of American democracy goes on full display: the peaceful transfer of power. Often, the most memorable aspect of an inauguration isn’t the actual swearing-in or the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue or the celebratory balls.” (01/20/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/From-the-Editors/2025/0120/inauguration-day-donald-trump
- Eugene Robinson’s Gilded-Age Misconceptions
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“Longtime Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson’s new article about a ‘second Gilded Age’ in America gets it wrong. He writes: ‘In the first Gilded Age, a few tycoons amassed unimaginable riches — men such as John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt and J.P. Morgan. With their great wealth came great power and influence. When they spoke, presidents listened. On Monday, as a billionaire reassumes the nation’s highest office, in attendance will be the three wealthiest human beings on the planet, according to the Forbes and Bloomberg lists of billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos (who owns The Post) and Mark Zuckerberg.’ While those facts are technically correct, where Robinson goes wrong is in failing to recognize that America had a totally different economic and political system in the Gilded Age period that it now has.” (01/21/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/01/21/eugene-robinsons-gilded-age-misconceptions/
- The New Brandeisian: A Populist Repackaging of the Harvard School
Source: Cobden Centre
by Siamak Etefagh“The landscape of antitrust policy in the United States has long been shaped by various schools of thought, each bringing distinct perspectives on how to maintain competitive markets and protect consumer interests. Among these, the Harvard School historically championed a proactive stance against concentrated economic power, while the New Brandeisian school has recently emerged, heralded as a modern revival of Justice Louis Brandeis’s concerns about corporate dominance. Proponents of the New Brandeisian movement argue that it represents a significant and necessary departure from previous theories, particularly the Chicago School, by infusing antitrust discourse with broader societal and democratic concerns. However, a closer scrutiny reveals that the New Brandeisian school is not a revolutionary departure, but rather a repackaging of the Harvard School’s interventionist frameworks, cloaked in populist rhetoric.” (01/21/25)
- Looking for the Resistance
Source: In These Times
by Hamilton Nolan“I remember The Resistance. You can say that it was corny, that it was ineffective, that it was performative or overmatched or misguided. But you can’t say it wasn’t real. It happened. In 2017, Trump’s first inauguration was a miserable, lightly attended affair. And then, the very next day, all of downtown DC was choked by a heaving mass of hundreds of thousands of incensed people at the Women’s March …. In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, there were several months when the entire country vibrated with the footsteps of angry protesters, a movement large enough to prompt politicians and corporations to scramble to appear concerned about justice, whether they were or not. While separate, those two episodes were consecutive points on a line of Resistance that had been building for years.” (01/19/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/trump-inauguration-peoples-march-protest
- Vaccine Injuries Don’t Wake Everyone Up
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Rebekah Barnett“As Covid vaccine injuries started mounting up, and the topic became somewhat less taboo in the media – albeit always accompanied by boilerplate text about how the benefits outweigh the risks – some of us expressed hope that injured people would ‘wake up’ to the risks of the shots, creating a wave of awareness and action. Some vaccine-injured people recognised what happened to them, accepted it, and joined the campaign for better research and vaccine safety. Yet, this has not uniformly been the case. A good many others remain in the dark, despite dealing with sudden and ongoing mystery illnesses.” (01/21/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/vaccine-injuries-dont-wake-everyone-up/
- Trump’s DOJ Needs To Go After Biden Family Immediately
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter“I’ve never really been in favor of the idea of endless investigations into people just because they are your political opponent. I didn’t like it when Democrats did it to Donald Trump, and I wasn’t keen on the idea of Republicans doing it to Democrats. But notice how that sentence is in the past tense. Screw those people, unleash the hounds. I have known Joe Biden was a vindictive, corrupt little man. On his last day in office he showed just how far down the toilet he now lives.” (01/21/25)
- The Opportunity Cost of Your Dream Job
Source: The Daily Economy
by Jon Miltimore“Even the things that make us happiest involve tradeoffs, We cannot have it all. As soon as we achieve our dream, we’re losing something else.” (01/21/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-opportunity-cost-of-your-dream-job/
- Donald Trump Is The Empire Unmasked
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“During his inaugural address, the new president of the United States was refreshingly open about the fact that Washington is the hub of a continuously expanding empire which is ruled by billionaire plutocrats. As Joe Lauria highlighted for Consortium News, President Trump’s speech included references to the ‘manifest destiny’ of America, saying that under his presidency the US will consider itself a nation that ‘expands our territory.’ He waxed fondly about the settler-colonialist past which established the country at the expense of the people who were already living there, and vowed to take control of the Panama Canal. Trump gave this speech to an audience where the wealthiest people on earth sat alongside his own cabinet in the best seats in the house.” (01/21/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/01/21/donald-trump-is-the-empire-unmasked/
- Leveraging LIHTC for housing abundance
Source: Niskanen Center
by Alex Armolvich, Christopher S Elmendorf, & Sam Jacobson“Americans are riled up about the cost of housing. For the first time in living memory, housing affordability figured prominently in a presidential campaign — and for good reason. Research shows that housing supply in U.S. metro areas has become progressively less elastic over time. This means that when demand for housing grows — as occurred during the pandemic, when people started working from home and wanted more living space — it causes higher housing prices rather than the development of more housing.” (01/21/25)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/leveraging-lihtc-for-housing-abundance
- Distorting Trump’s Language
Source: The Contrarian
by Jennifer Rubin“MAGA’s terminology is an inaccurate means of describing our state of affairs — together, we must reframe and rename our political vocabulary.” (01/21/25)
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/distorting-trumps-language?
- Is There Hope In Politics?
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein“Let’s start change with ourselves; societal flourishing doesn’t come from politics.” (01/21/25)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/is-there-hope-in-politics
- Donald Trump is our president and Dems have no idea what to do
Source: Fox News
by Liz Peek“Democrats are in freefall. As of Monday, Donald J. Trump is officially the 47th president of the United States. He starts his second term in the Oval Office with a bang – rolling out dozens of executive orders fulfilling promises made to American voters — and more popular than he has ever been. Democrats have no idea how to respond. Their party is currently earning its lowest approval ratings ever, for good reason. It is guilty of perpetrating the greatest political scandal of our lifetimes — pretending President Joe Biden was OK to run for another four years. Their efforts to brand Donald Trump a threat to Democracy were a bust and their leadership is in disarray. They deserve every minute they serve in political purgatory. A former communications director for Kamala Harris says Democrats ‘got to burn down our image’. He’s right. The party’s trials will not end soon.” (01/21/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/liz-peek-donald-trump-our-president-democrats-have-no-idea-what-do
- America’s Free Press Tradition
Source: Law & Liberty
by Miles Smith IV“There have certainly been examples where the spread of conspiracy theories and false information has proved harmful — one thinks of the 2016 Pizzagate incident where a North Carolina man was imprisoned after firing a rifle at a Washington, DC, pizza restaurant he believed was hiding a pedophile ring. But the idea that governments are more trustworthy than the citizenry or the free press is specious, particularly in light of worldwide government mismanagement of the covid pandemic and how basic civil rights have been curtailed across the West by governments left, right, and center. In the United States, the press understood itself until very recently to be a check on state power and to hold state declarations accountable, not to be a vehicle for state-codified information.” (01/21/25)
- Presidents and Precedents
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson“Donald Trump really is a vindictive would-be caudillo who is going to have to be constrained by the courts on any number of fronts, and taking prosecutions off the table — of Anthony Fauci, of members of the January 6 committee of investigation, notably Liz Cheney, etc. — might save the republic some unwanted convulsions. But there are problems, too: Biden’s decision to pardon people who have not been investigated — much less charged with or convicted of — any crime has no obvious precedent in law.” [editor’s note: Nixon was never charged with or convicted – TLK] (01/21/25)
- Central Asia becomes middle power contender in new Trump era
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Alexandra Sitenko“President Donald Trump has caused quite a stir in the media in recent months with his bold statements on a diplomatic solution to the military conflict in and around Ukraine. One of his moves in this direction at the beginning of December was a phone call with Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asking the latter for his opinion on the issue. The fact that Trump would pick up the phone to talk to Tokayev suggests that Kazakhstan could play a role as an actor in the search for a diplomatic solution in Ukraine. Furthermore, it underscores Central Asia’s potential to shape the peace and security architecture in Eurasia and beyond. In view of the aspirations of the new Trump administration, it is likely that U.S. policy towards Central Asia may be in line for an upgrade.” (01/21/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/central-asian-countries-trump/
- Augustus Augustulus Trump
Source: Common Dreams
by Jorge Majfud“Augustus liquidated the Roman Republic a generation before Christ by appealing to religion, presenting himself as Apollo’s favorite, placing the senate under his authority, and becoming the first Roman emperor. He promoted upper-class birthrates, traditionalist moralism, and patriotic literature, such as Virgil’s commissioned Aeneid, a classic of political propaganda based on nonexistent facts about Rome’s past greatness. Augustus capitalized on the social instability of the moment with a charismatic, demagogic, and strategic speech about making Rome great again under the symbol of the Golden Eagle. Half a millennium later, Augustulus was the last emperor of the Western Empire, defeated by the Germanic barbarians. The American Empire, the most powerful in human history, is probably also the shortest. It has held that title for one-tenth as long as the Roman Empire in Europe and one-hundredth as long as the Eastern Empire.” (01/21/25)
- The Red (Note) White and Blue
Source: CounterPunch
by Kathleen Wallace“The threat of banning a social media platform so many used actually pushed many Gen Z members to download a Chinese social media app deliciously named Red Note. This is a magnificent fuck around and find out moment.” (01/21/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/21/the-red-note-white-and-blue/
- The Political Orphanage, 01/21/25
Source: The Political Orphanage
“A Theme Park for Kids with Disabilities (And Everyone).” (01/21/25)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/a-theme-park-for-kids-with-disabilities-and-everyone
- Power Problems, 01/21/25
Source: Cato Institute
“The AI Competition with China.” (01/21/25)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/power-problems/ai-competition-china
- The Bryan Hyde Show, 01/21/25
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s my weekly sit down with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos. We talk about the up and running Trump administration and where America goes from here.” (01/21/25)
- Capital Record, episode 206
Source: National Review
“All I Do Is … Produce.” (01/21/25)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/all-i-do-is-produce/
- Advisory Opinions, 01/21/25
Source: The Dispatch
“Law Schools vs. Conservative Scholars.” (01/21/25)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/law-schools-vs-conservative-scholars/
- Trump Watch, 01/21/25
- The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 01/21/25
Source: The New Republic
“Suddenly, Trump Allies Quietly Admit He May Not Have a Huge ‘Mandate.'” (01/21/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/190433/suddenly-trump-allies-quietly-admit-may-not-huge-mandate